It was a couple of days shy of a year ago that eat drink RI launched and it’s been a fantastic year. I thought it would be interesting to see what was the most read parts of the site in 2011 and thought maybe readers would find it interesting as well.

After the front page, the most viewed page is the Upcoming Events page. It’s no surprise to me why. It was the first page I created because it was the first thing I wanted to see–a single, permanent page of chronologically listed food and drink events for the area. I’m very proud to provide it and I’ve had so much positive feedback from diners, restaurants and event managers. If social media stats are to be believed, the Events page has been shared many hundreds of times across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.

So other than the permanent Events page, what were the Top Five items read the most in 2011?

Chef Beau Vestal of New Rivers

#1 Chefs & Restaurants

That should also be no surprise to anyone who’s dined in so many of Rhode Island’s top flight restaurants. The restaurant “scene” here is vibrant and growing and people are searching it out as they hear the many accolades being heaped upon R.I. food.

one pretty thin slice

#2 Charcutepalooza February: The Salt Cure: bacon & pancetta

People responded well to all twelve of the Charcutepalooza posts, but I suspect the heavy searching online of the word “bacon” propelled this post to the top.

Chef Matt Jennings (holding trophy) with the Farmstead / La Laiterie team

#3 Chef Matt Jennings Wins Cochon 555 For Third Time

The popularity of our resident James Beard Foundation Award nominee, coupled with all that pork, drew in a lot of readers.

Chef Derek Wagner of Nick's on Broadway gets the picnic bonfire going

#4 Coming Sunday, October 16: Chefs Collaborative RI Farm Picnic

This was widely shared on many social media sites by the dozen or so chefs who participated. It turned out to be a gorgeous night and one of the best food events of 2011. If you missed it, watch here for this year’s date.

Providence Cocktail Week

#5 Willa Van Nostrand Wins Rhode Island Cocktail Contest

Showing that not only is Rhode Island loaded with raved about food but there is a burgeoning cocktail culture here as well.

Happy New Year and thank you for reading as we expand in 2012.

Pork belly.

I’m going to let those words roll around your tongue for a while. Perhaps I’ll type them again.

Pork belly.

Beautiful words, yes? Before February’s Charcutepalooza challenge was even announced I had acquired a thick, fatty, gorgeous pork belly from a pasture-raised Berkshire pig. It had been delivered on a Friday morning by Patrick McNiff of Pat’s Pastured farm in Jamestown, Rhode Island and then butchered in front of my camera by Chef Champe Speidel of Persimmon Provisions butcher shop in Barrington, Rhode Island. When the photo session was done (the photos will be in the upcoming spring issue of Edible Rhody) I said, “I’m buying that pork belly.” David, who works at Persimmon Provisions, also said, “I’m buying that pork belly.” Fortunately, there’s two sides to every animal, so we avoided pork belly tension. Have I achieved any kind of record for the number of times one can type “pork belly” in a paragraph?

I put the belly in my refrigerator, planning on spending some time that weekend curing it. I have often made un-smoked slab bacon (essentially slab pancetta) and had come very close to a recipe I liked the last time I had done it, so I had hoped to perfect it with the nine-plus pounds of belly now wrapped in plastic in my refrigerator. Clearly the pork belly has mystical powers because it was revealed on Saturday morning that the February Charcutepalooza challenge was The Salt Cure. How often do you find yourself with a large cut of pork belly and the possibility of winning a prize by curing that pork belly? I know what you’re saying: not often enough.

First thing I did was split the belly into two pieces. The extremely thick end weighed in at about 3 1/2 pounds and that was set aside for bacon. The rest, which was still pretty thick and proved a bit difficult to roll, I cured with the pancetta recipe straight out of Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn’s Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing. I still haven’t completely decided if I’ve perfected my bacon cure yet, but if you like your bacon a little on the spicy/savory side, you can give this a try:

Bacon Cure

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

salt cure (how much and what color I leave to you to decide, my bacon never leaves a refrigerator or oven, so I used a cup of kosher salt)
1 Tbs Ecuadorian whole black peppercorns
1/2 Tbs whole coriander
1/2 Tbs whole cumin
2 bay leaves
1/2 Tbs Herbs de Provence
1/2 cup maple syrup

Instructions

Toast and grind the whole spices, crumble the bay leaves and mix it all up in a zip top bag with the pork belly. From there follow the directions in Charcuterie. I use Ecuadorian black peppercorns because they have a bit of heat. I wouldn’t say hot like cayenne, but definitely more heat than you’d get from Tellicherry peppercorns. I get them from The Spice House. If you don’t have them you could use standard peppercorns and a dash or two of ground cayenne or perhaps a few shots of Tabasco.

Before closing, a quick story about my wonderfully faithful and protective black Labrador named Bayou (yes, she was born in Louisiana). I hang most of my charcuterie out in the open in our basement. Each time I hang a piece of meat, Bayou wanders down to the basement and sniffs every square inch of the floor, hunting for something she knows smells delicious, but she can never find it. I’m not sure if I’ll be upset or proud on the day Bayou finally figures out that all she has to do is look up.

Photos and captions will tell the rest of my curing tale. Thank you again to Mrs. Wheelbarrow and The Yummy Mummy.